Utah mother charged with Child Abuse after boyfriend allegedly kills her 1-year-old son

Gena Nicole Sanchez, 22, is charged with two counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony, accusing her of seeing signs that her children were being abused but not doing anything about those signs, KSL reported.

Last week, Isaiah Weaver, 17, was charged as an adult with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, in the death of 21-month-old Jaycieion Sanchez.

He is also charged with two counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony.

For about a month, police say Weaver, Sanchez and Sanchez’s three children were living with Sanchez’s mother in West Valley City.

On Jan. 16, police were called to the apartment on a report that Jaycieion was unconscious and unresponsive.

Police found the baby, who was cold to the touch, lying on his back on the bathroom floor with his eyes partially open and a large bruise on his cheek, according to charging documents.

He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A doctor at the hospital determined “it was likely that (Jaycieion) had been deceased for some time before emergency personnel had arrived,” the charges say.

Medical personnel observed bruising and scars “all over” the boy’s body as well as severe head trauma, according to the charges.

At the apartment, police found “fresh blood droplets on the walls, ceiling, and many other pieces of furniture in the bedroom shared by Weaver and Sanchez.”

A 5-year-old sibling of Jaycieion told police that Weaver, who watched the younger children while Sanchez went to work, would discipline them by heating a clothing hanger with a lighter and then spanking them with it, according to court documents.

Weaver, who “admitted that he had a bad temper,” also said he was throwing Jaycieion in the air “because he wanted him to be quiet,” and the boy hit his head on the ceiling, the charges said.

In addition, a few times in the days before his death while he was throwing Jaycieion, the boy landed with his head hitting the floor, police say the teen told them.

Sanchez said she “noticed Weaver seems jealous” of her relationship with Jaycieion, the charges said.

She said she watched as Weaver allegedly spanked Jaycieion’s bare bottom and one time kicked her son in the back.

She also observed marks on her 2-year-old child’s chest and watched Weaver hit him in the mouth once, the charges state.

The mother told police she “had a weird feeling” about going to work on Jan. 16, but went anyway “because they needed the money.”

WEST VALLEY CITY, UT – A teenage babysitter has been booked into detention and faces a charge of child abuse homicide after a 21-month-old baby died Tuesday.

According to the West Valley City Police Department, 21-month-old Jaycieion Sanchez died after emergency units responded to a home near 4600 South and 2900 West in West Valley City Tuesday around noon.

The unconscious child was flown to a hospital, but despite medical efforts the child died.

The child was at home with a sibling and a babysitter at the time, and police stated they saw “multiple visible injuries that were not consistent with statements given by the babysitter regarding the circumstances of the child’s death.”

Police conducted an investigation and served a search warrant at the home, and authorities questioned the babysitter as well as the child’s mother and grandmother.

A new study by the Clean Label Project suggests most baby food contains dangerous contaminates.

These baby foods and formulas tested
positive for Arsenic, Lead and BPA
in new study

An alarming study released Wednesday found many baby food products test positive for arsenic, including 80% of infant formulas. And, that’s not the only dangerous contaminate found.

Best five products compared to the worst five tested:

170% more ARSENIC than the best.

35% more CADMIUM than the best.

30% more LEAD than the best.

20% more ACRYLAMIDE than the best.

The Clean Label Project, a nonprofit advocating for transparent labeling, tested baby food, infant formulas, toddler drinks and snacks purchased within the past 5 months. The group, which did not publish findings in a peer-reviewed journal, looked at top-selling formulas and baby food using Nielsen data, and also included emerging national brands. After about 530 baby food products were tested, researchers found 65% of products tested positive for arsenic, 36% for lead, 58% for cadmium and 10% for acrylamide. All of these chemicals pose potential dangers to developing infants.

Jennifer Lowry, pediatrician and toxicologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., who is not affiliated with the research, said these chemicals can affect fine motor skills and cognition.

Mainstream brands including Gerber, Enfamil, Plum Organics and Sprout were among the worst offenders — scoring two out of five in the Clean Label Project’s report card for toxic metals. Plus, 60% of products claiming to be “BPA free” tested positive for the industrial chemical bisphenol A. The quantities of contaminates range, but some products tested positive for up to 600 parts of arsenic per billion. That’s far more than just trace amounts.

Arsenic was the most common contaminate spotted in the Clean Label Project study. Nearly 80% of infant formula samples tested positive for arsenic. The toxin is associated with developmental defects, cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity, diabetes and even cancer, according to the World Health Organization.

Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of Clean Label Project and a food safety scientist, said rice-based baby food such as snack puffs had some of the highest levels of arsenic.

In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a limit of 100 parts per billion of arsenic in infant rice cereal, but isn’t enforcing that limit. Rice often absorbs arsenic from contaminated soil as it grows in the environment.

“It is important for consumers to understand that some contaminants, such as heavy metals like lead or arsenic, are in the environment and cannot simply be removed from food,” Peter Cassell, a FDA spokesperson.

Lead, also found in food tested by the Clean Label Project, has been found in baby food before. Just a few months ago, the Environmental Defense Fund found 20% of 2,164 baby food samples tested contained lead. No amount of lead is safe, but it’s not regulated.

Low levels of lead in children’s blood have been connected to lower IQs, slowed growth, behavioral problems, hearing issues and anemia, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Clean Label Project posted a list of products it tested, along with a star-rating grade informed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, on its website. Bowen said she hopes the data helps parents become better advocates for their children’s health, and creates change in the baby food business.

Mother charged with Child Abuse of twin
infants in Imperial

IMPERIAL, PA – An Imperial mother is facing felony child abuse charges after doctors found broken bones in one of her 5-week-old twin boys — then asked to see his brother and found more, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV.

Chelsey Stallard’s preliminary hearing was held Wednesday, and a judge held the charges for court.

North Fayette police were called to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in June for a report of twin 5-week-old boys with signs of child abuse, the news station reported.

According to the criminal complaint, a doctor said each infant had “significant trauma to the lower extremities,” broken bones in their legs in different stages of healing, and one of the boys had a displaced, broken elbow.

Stallard admitted to handling the babies roughly from time to time such as when they cried and during diaper changes, police said.

Stallard admitted to forcefully pulling one infant’s arm while he was still strapped in his car seat and acknowledged that both infants’ injuries were a result of her actions, WPXI reported.

But Stallard’s attorney claims his client is innocent, saying an underlying medical condition may be to blame.

“These charges were filed without a complete medical investigation being conducted into the origin of these injuries,” Chris Eyster told WPXI. “A group of doctors at the request of the family is now trying to conduct that medical investigation.”

Tucson woman arrested week after
boyfriend in Child Abuse case

TUCSON, AZ – Police said on Friday, May 5, that they have arrested a Tucson woman in connection with a child abuse case for which her boyfriend was arrested last month.

According to Tucson Police Department Sgt. Pete Dugan, 21-year-old Valerie Pastran was arrested on Thursday, May 4. She was booked on one count of child abuse, Dugan said. She was released later that night.

Gilbert Cuhen, an MMA fighter from New Mexico, was arrested on abuse charges on April 27 after Pastran’s 3-year-old girl was found unresponsive in a home on Tucson’s south side. Cuhen was also charged with child abuse.

Dugan said on April 27 that the child was in critical condition. The child’s family said she was on life support.

Tucson News Now will update this late breaking story as details become available.